Imperial Officer Ulbus Sterven flattened a crease on the shoulder of his uniform and caressed his hairline with one index finger, swiping any stray black hairs back into place. A single, uncooperative hair resisted his touch and again fell slightly curled against his forehead. How was he supposed to achieve a promotion if he couldn't even keep his aesthetics within regulation parameters? Sterven grasped the stray hair with a silver tool and fiercely yanked it from his scalp. Sterven straightened his uniform again, fixing the same crease as before, then turned away from his reflection to follow through on the day's duties.

Stormtroopers were being sent to the planet below on abduction missions. Sterven commanded a small team of commandos with a vessel just large enough to carry a few dozen passengers. Sterven's mission: capture enough Firrerreos to fill his cargo bay and report back to the fleet. The Empire had very specific plans for this planet and it's people, but Sterven was on the opposite end of the rank spectrum from those who knew the purpose.

Sterven glanced at a tiny chronometer embedded inside the wall within his quarters as he pulled on a slick pair of knee high boots. It was time to report to the cabin, his ship would be touching down on Firrerre in minutes. A soft beep from his nightstand signaled an incoming message, which Sterven hesitantly answered.

A tiny blue apparition materialized atop the center of the nightstand. Sterven saluted the hologram, another Imperial officer with sharp, rigid features deeply contrasting Sterven's softer, more disheveled appearance. The higher ranking officer was a friend of Sterven's - they went to the academy together.

"Volunteered for the outer rim, did you, Ulbus?" the flickering blue man declared.

Sterven had replaced a recently expelled officer, one who had been rumored to be a traitor. Of course, being a traitor in the Empire could mean over-sleeping. Honestly, Sterven had no idea what he was getting into by stepping up for this mission - other than increasing his chances for a promotion, of course.

"Yes, sir."

"Good work, I'm sure we'll be on the same star ship in no time. Ambition is important, Ulbus," continued the blue man.

"Of course, sir."

"However - I wanted you to know that I've spoken to your superior officers and..." Whatever hint of pleasure that was once in the tiny hologram's face vanished. "Unfortunately your promotion won't be coming around this time, but if you do well on this operation you might be coming back from the outer rim on the next mission!"

"I understand," Sterven lied.

"Anyway, I hear that Firrerre has excellent cuisine. You may want to try some before the planet is quarantined. Good hunting, Ulbus."

"Quarantined?" Sterven asked. But he was too slow, the transmission had already terminated.

_________ Four Hours Later ____________

Sterven was down to the last two captives he needed to complete his task. The door of the final domicile slid open and Sterven's squad of storm troopers carried out two stunned adults - one male, one female.

"There's one more inside, sir," one of the stormtroopers stiffly declared. Sterven almost scoffed - that wasn't his problem.

"Hostile?" Sterven asked.

"No, sir, infant."

There was a visible change in Sterven's expression. It could be construed as curiosity from the outside, but on the inside... Sterven was truly conflicted. Should he leave the child behind, either to starve or to die under whatever plans the Empire had that required a quarantine? He couldn't take it with him... his orders specified that only adults were to be abducted.

"One moment," Sterven said, brushing the grunt aside and entering the home by himself. His promotion would never come if he showed signs of mercy or insolence, but Sterven wasn't getting a promotion for this job. He could at least allow himself to be merciful to some degree... to end the infant's life immediately instead of letting it rot. The child was a boy - barely twelve inches in height with a tuff of brown fuzz on it's head. The boy didn't respond to Sterven's entrance, he simply slept silently. Sterven raised his pistol and leveled the end of the barrel a mere inch from the baby's face. A close range shot to head to end the baby's life before it's tiny nervous system could register the pain. The helpless Firrerreo baby opened his eyes at that moment - a pair of dark, brown, captivating eyes. Judgmental eyes. The baby did not smile, it simply stared.

I can't... Sterven felt the hesitation set in. But it was more than that. The moment those two individuals locked eyes, Sterven realized that he was not ruthless enough to do this. There was a reason why he was never promoted, and perhaps his superiors noticed it long before he did. Compassion. No, Sterven could not kill this child. There was one thing Sterven was going to bring back home from this mission and it wasn't a promotion. One life meant nothing to the galaxy, but Sterven would always remember his own defiance on that day. The boy would live.

Last edited by Notorious on Thu Jun 28, 2012 2:19 am, edited 2 times in total.

It was a beautiful day on the outskirts of Coronet City. The sound of the ocean could be heard for miles, the sun disappeared and reappeared behind giant fluffy clouds stretching across the atmosphere, and a cool wind rushed through the trees. Two little boys and a girl, all under the age of ten, crouched behind a large builder with their eyes intently staring over the edge. The girl and one of the boys were distinctly Corellian, but the third member of their group stuck out like a Wookie in an Imperial squad. The boy had long, wild hair that obviously grew much faster than he could cut it. His bushy mane was a dark, rich brown with mysterious blonde stripes starting just below his temples and fading into the mess of tangles.

On the other side of the boulder was a small Bageraset, some how disconnected from it's herd - lunch. It wandered aimlessly, digging up roots and plants with it's four hoofed feet. The slightly green stripes on it's back were not effective enough to fool the three children. With a few petty arguments and several hushes, the odd boy lifted a curved object with a wire connecting the two ends. His counterpart handed him a long shaft with a sharp point at the end. Carefully, slowly, the odd boy accepted the arrow and armed his weapon.

"You can do it," the girl whispered.

"Remember, aim above," the boy said. The child with the bow said nothing, but a tiny bead of sweat crept down his forehead to his nose. His hands were steady but his arms seemed to vibrate uncontrollably.

"Steady," continued the boy. The tip of the arrow lifted a few degrees, the wind died down for just a moment, and the bow wielding boy exhaled all the air from his lungs just long enough to open his fingers and let the arrow fly. One instant the Bageraset was calmly grazing, and the next... it lay mortally wounded.

All three Corellian youths hopped up from behind their cover and cheered in their own way. Lunch was served.

3 Hours Later -

The three children had returned to their home - a small community of gypsies living on the outskirts of Coronet City. They traveled constantly, and all of their homes were extremely temporary. But with such meager technology being the most they'd ever have, taking it easy and enjoying life on Corellia was the best they could look forward to. That, and stealing a few gadgets from strangers at the market. Actually, that's what one of the boy's names was - Gadget - because he liked to steal advanced toys and take them apart. It was fun and easy for an 8 year old, except that he hadn't quite figured out how to put them back together.

None of the three kids had any parents - in fact, pretty much none of the gypsies were related but they often gave each other family titles such as mother, father, uncle, aunt, brother, etc. Food was not scarce, but it wasn't easy to catch either. Game as large as a Bageraset was rare, it could feed a dozen people... except that the boy who shot it also seemed bent on finishing it.

"Son, slow down or you'll hurt yourself," warned an aging gypsy as she set another plate down on a collapsible table. Gadget and the little girl, Echo, had long finished their lunch and were playing with a few toys they had stolen recently.

"Mayemmcamt," the boy mumbled, his mouth so full that his lips couldn't shut all the way.

"My, what an appetite. Is that why they call you Notorious, boy?" the woman asked, sitting down in her own chair. The hungry boy swallowed finally and replied.

"It's because I'm the best climber," he said.

"No," Gadget calmly interrupted, "it's because he's got two eyelids."

"Yeah, that too," Notorious agreed, taking another huge bite.

"Do you?" the woman asked curiously, leaning a little closer to humor the child. Notorious nodded, lifted his chin, then blinked his second set of nictitating membranes horizontally across his eyes. The old gypsy gasped in astonishment.

"How old are you, son?"

"Six," he replied. "I'll be seven in a month."

"And I never noticed," she sighed. "How very... different."

"He's an alien," Gadget said boldly, tearing apart two pieces of circuitry. His toy would never work again, but he didn't care.

"You look human..." The gypsy woman said. She reached out to Notorious, and with one withered hand she brushed his mangled brown mane behind his ears. He looked identical to any human she'd ever seen.

"He's not," Gadget said, standing up with a pile of electronics in his hands. He marched over to Notorious and they stared at each other with hostile expressions for a good ten seconds before the two of them blew up with laughter. The old woman felt a smile creep across her face even though she had not been involved with whatever joke the boys had created. "But he's still my best friend."

After lunch it was time to play in the city. Sometimes, kind folks would give gypsy children a few of their extra credits. If they didn't, then the kids could always steal a few provisions then run and hide. The city was different than the wilderness - it was loud, bright, hot, and sometimes dirty. The occasional swoop bike would swing by and nearly remove the children's heads, but they were not scared. No - it was different in the city, but it was still fun.

"Notorious?" Gadget ignored Echo completely. Notorious grinned at his friend, flashing a glimpse of sharp canines. They were both thinking the same thing - joy ride.

Moments later, as Echo watched helplessly from the sidelines, a swoop bike soared by with two little boys at the helm. Gadget laid on his stomach and used his hands to activate the foot controls, while Notorious sat on his back and attempted to steer. The motley crew soared up, banked left, dropped down, and bucked like an angry Gundark with a two little riders. The boys screamed wildly as they separated crowds and forced pedestrians to leap out of their destructive path. Notorious skimmed too close to a traveling food salesman and nicked the edge of his hovercart, spinning the cart 360 degrees. Notorious's little arms couldn't handle the controls after the small collision, the handle bars seemed to spin all on their own. Try as he did, the boy failed to prevent the bike from crashing head on into a grocery market entrance. The door opened automatically, allowing them to fly inside, slide across the floor, and crash into an exotic fruit display. Bruised, battered, and pulsating with adrenalin, the two boys crawled out from underneath the fruit moaning and groaning.

"Oh my!" "What's this, what's happened?" "What was that noise?" "Is he all right?" "They're kids!" A crowd immediately began forming around the event, and that meant serious consequences if they failed to escape immediately.

Lightsabers clashed, blue against green, as two combatants attacked each other. One was a teenage boy sporting a mop of brown hair and a determined expression. The other was a man, tall and athletic, powerfully built, but lithe in form. He shared the boy’s hair color, but not the style, having it cut much shorter.

Off to the side, two observers watched them fight. The first was a woman, shapely and attractive by many standards, and wore simple but functional clothing. Her hair was shoulder-length, brunette as well, but a deeper chestnut color than the men. The other was a young girl, no more than seven, and was the only one in the room who didn’t seem that interested in the fight. Unlike the other people in the room, the girl’s hair was a striking blonde that reached down her back and was laced through with intricate braids. Rather than watch the fight, the girl seemed more interested in playing with the doll she had with her.

The boy came at the man in the flashy style known as Ataru, rough but practiced, as he charged in and tried for sweeping attacks, only to have them stopped, forcing him to dodge or jump out of the way of a counterattack. The man was much more composed, blocking or deflecting the boy’s attacks almost effortlessly, using either Makashi or Soresu to defend himself, wasting little energy or movement in his defense. Finally, and without warning, he switched to Djem So to meet a weak swing from the boy with force, sending the younger male stumbling back until he hit a wall. The boy’s lightsaber blade ended up scoring the wall as it flew back before it shut down, but it did no real damage against the lightsaber resistant materials in the room.

The man smiled as he shut down the blue blade of his weapon and clipped it to his belt. “Good session, Sysen. I can see you’ve been working on watching your left flank. You forced me to use brute force to stop you this time. Next time we’ll focus on turning an opponent’s strength against them.”

The boy got up and used the Force to retrieve his fallen lightsaber. “You’re too darn good, Dad, that’s the problem. How am I ever supposed to beat you?”

“Practice and patience,” his father replied easily. “I didn’t learn how to fight overnight, you know. It took a lifetime of training to get where I’m at now.”

“I know, I know…” Sysen said with a sigh as he grabbed a towel and started to mop up the sweat on his brow, “…keep at it.” He suddenly grinned. “I really was better this time, wasn’t I?”

“You improve every time we fight,” the other man agreed with a grin to match before he turned to look at the girl. “Okay, Kalja, grab a practice saber, it’s your turn.”

“Oh, Tulsar,” the woman said to him disapprovingly. “Do we have to do this again? I think Kalja’s still too young to learn how to use a lightsaber.”

Tulsar shook his head. “Falanis, she has to learn. Even the Jedi would have started training their younglings before now. In times like these – especially in times like these - we can’t put it off.”

“But I hate lightsabers!” Kalja protested.

Tulsar sighed as he walked over to Kalja and knelt down next to her. “I know you don’t like them, but you can’t afford not to learn. If Vader or the Emperor ever learned about us… about you…” He cut himself off before tenderly brushing a few strands of loose hair from her face. “Not everyone in the galaxy plays as nicely as you do.”

“Maybe they just need a hug,” Kalja volunteered.

Tulsar smiled at the idea. “I wish it were that simple. Now come on, grab a saber and we’ll get started.”

Kalja shook her head and crossed her arms. “No! I don’t want to learn how to hurt people!”

“Kalja Sairu…” Tulsar started to say sternly before he was interrupted by a beeping alarm; they were nearing their hyperspace exit point. He looked at Kalja briefly before giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder and standing up. “Alright everyone, looks like training is over. Strap yourselves in. Next stop: Corellia.”

Sysen and Kalja exited the room, with Kalja giggling excitedly as she did so; no doubt just as happy to get out of training as she was to see Corellia. Falanis stayed as Tulsar walked up to her. “I don’t know what to do with her,” he admitted to his wife. “She’s got so much potential, but she refuses to try and learn anything I want to teach her.”

“It’s because all you know is combat,” Falanis said to him with a wry smile. “Sysen has so much of you in him, Tulsar. He is his father's son. I wish I could say Kalja took after me, but I have a suspicion that she already knows more about the Force than I do.”

“Just one more reason why she should learn to protect herself,” Tulsar replied somewhat darkly as he started to make his way to the cockpit.

The young girl cried out in pain when the boy grabbed her by the braid and jerked her head back. Angry and acting out of instinct she launched herself backwards, head butting the boy in his face. There was a loud crunch as the force of the impact broke his nose and both boy and girl went crashing to the ground. Faris held his nose in both hands, his eyes on the verge of tears while Faye Ward rubbed her head, her eyes clenched tightly against the pain.

"I believe that concludes this lesson," Master Lyn said as he approached the two. He beckoned over a pair of disciples to see to the boy's injuries while he helped his granddaughter to her feet.

"That was entirely undignified," he said to her sternly.

"He grabbed my braid," she answered back as if that explained everything.

"I warned you about the consequences of having long hair in battle. Wearing your hair in a braid also makes it easier to grab. If you insist on keeping it that way then you will just have to learn to deal with it."

Faye crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest and stuck her lower lip out in a pout. She didn't want to cut her hair but she understood what her Grandfather was talking about. In battle anything was allowed, but even so this was just a sparring match. She shouldn't have reacted the way she did but she couldn't help it. She didn't like Faris grabbing her hair like that.

"Come," Lyn said, "we have some packing to do."

"Packing," Faye asked glancing up at him curiously.

"I have some business on Corellia to attend to. A matter of--some importance," his expression became oddly concerned about something. Faye had to wonder if it had anything to do with her parents, her real parents. She had never met them, of course, but Master Lyn had told her very little about them. He kept much from her about her past but she had always suspected that was because he knew very little himself. About herself, though, she knew she was talented and Master Lyn would sometimes attribute it to her lineage, which Faye had always considered to be her Palawan parents. Only at the age of seven she was already far ahead of what should be her skill level. Her grandfather had once called her a prodigy but he never really did explain what that word meant.

"What kind of business," she asked, her curiosity now piqued.

"We're going to meet someone, a friend of mine. He's asked to see you."

"Me? Why?"

"All will be revealed in time, young one," the elder Palawan answered cryptically and he would say no more. Faye was left to ponder just who it was they were going to meet and why. Maybe this stranger wanted to test her in battle. The thought of it made her expression light up with a smile, finally her skills were being recognized.

Gadget's hushed voice broke a long silence in a pitch black room, but Notorious was indeed awake. The boy with the wild brown hair rolled onto his opposite shoulder to face the source of the voice - Gadget, laying restlessly on the adjacent cot. Notorious could not see Gadget in the darkness, but he could sense the eyes pointed in his direction.

"Yeah," Notorious replied softly. There were several other orphans in the temporary hovel, the gypsies had been nice enough to give them their own place to sleep, but it's upkeep was their full responsibility. Thus, it was very messy and smelled of sugar and sweat.

"You didn't show your arm to Papu, are you okay?"

"Fine. It doesn't hurt anymore." Notorious rubbed a spot on his forearm, searching for the pain that had been so intense earlier. Back at the market, Notorious would have sworn that he felt a compound fracture beneath his flesh. Now, not even a bruise. The swelling had gone done after a matter of hours and Notorious just carried on as usual. It wasn't forbidden to steal from the city folk in the gypsy community, but Notorious wasn't willing to admit to his elders that he had crashed a perfectly good swoop bike.

"But I thought you broke it?"

"I guess not." After that, any more words that came from Gadget fell upon sleeping ears.

The following morning

Notorious awoke to find Gadget and the bow missing, so the older boy must have beat him to the hunt. Probably just intimidated by the notorious skill of Notorious! The boy giggled softly to himself and hopped out of bed. He threw on a pair of dirty clothes, scarfed down some left-overs with a few of the other orphans, then left their little hovel to find Gadget. Unfortunately, Notorious couldn't find his companion anywhere in the camp, but Echo was around. The two kids decided to play in a nearby forest while they waited for Gadget's return. After an hour or so, the children returned to the gypsy camp with Notorious's shirt rolled up into a makeshift bag with several pounds of edible wild berries inside. One of the gypsies was supposedly an expert on the subject of wilderness survival - he had been the one to point out the berries. He told them about several other edible plants, but the berries were the sweetest and ultimately the only plant the little kids remembered. The bow and arrow, however, were great fun!

But Gadget had not returned. Notorious and Echo asked all of the gypsies about his whereabouts until finally they admitted to Papu, the self appointed orphan guardian, that Gadget had not returned. Papu organized a smile search party, but by the time the sun had set, the boy was still missing. An entire day came and went, and the next morning... no Gadget.

"We have to tell CorSec!" Echo decided. Her and Notorious sat on opposite sides of a tiny portable table as they ate their breakfast from handmade bowls. "Let's go back to Coronet. Maybe they'll help us."

"I don't know," Notorious said, staring into his cereal. Notorious didn't have faith that they could find the help they needed. He wanted to tell Echo that it was a waste of time to ask CorSec to help the gypsies. After all, Gadget and Notorious themselves had destroyed public property just over a day ago. But he wasn't about to forget his friend.

"I will find him," Notorious declared. Echo shook her head in doubt.

"But Papu already tried. If he and the others can't..."

"I can sense people," Notorious interrupted, glancing up from his cereal. "Whenever some one looks at me, I can feel it. When Grangran comes to visit us... I sense her coming. Sometimes... sometimes I even think that I can tell when some one is thinking about me."

"Is that cause you're an alien?" Echo asked, immediately believing him. Notorious considered that for a moment, dipping his spoon in and out of the cereal.

"Yeah, probably. By the way, here comes Grangran."

Sure enough, the old woman appeared at the entrance, a woeful look in her face. She came to console them on the loss of Gadget. Both children were very pleased to see her, but they did not reveal their plans to continue searching for Gadget. She was not a protective woman, but she was a realistic one. She would convince them it was a bad idea, and though they both harbored their own doubts, they did not want to hear about it. Once Grangran departed, the conversation continued.

"If we can find some one from the city who can help, then we'd have a chance," Echo reiterated. Notorious didn't like the idea of waiting, but she was right. Even if Notorious could sense Gadget while in the forest, he couldn't sense him at his current distance (or... status) and that meant they had no idea where to start. But if they could get the help of some one.... some one rich or powerful, especially...

"Okay," Notorious stated, preparing Echo for his proposal. "No one is going to help a couple of poor, orphan, gypsy children. So if we find somebody who looks like they can help, we're going to have to fool them into it."

"Okay," Echo nodded. "So what's your plan?"

"Uuuh," Notorious literally scratched his head, spending a moment to sift through his hair to get to his scalp. "I don't know."

"Well," Echo said, turning away from Notorious to pull on her worn shoes half a size too big. "It's a long walk to Coronet."

"One more time, please?" Echo asked politely. Notorious wasn't annoyed in the least about repeating the plan. Plans gave him comfort, especially talking about them.

"We find an off-worlder, some one who doesn't know Corellian gypsies. We ask them for directions to CorSec because we need help finding our older brother. Our parents are on vacation and Gadget was looking after us before we all got lost. After CorSec turns us down, we tell the tourists that we have a lot of credits, that our parents will pay them for helping us."

"Okay. I think I understand..." Echo declared, picking her nose.

"Once more?" Notorious asks. Echo finishes her business with her nose and then nods.

"Mmyes."

A few minutes later, the two gypsy children had arrived at Coronet city. They straightened up their hair and clothes, and set off to find a tourist.

Faye had decided almost from the moment she set foot on Corellia that she didn't like it. The gaggle of species that surrounded them at the star port were massive, creatures going every which way. She imagined it would be quite easy to get lost in such a mess if she hadn't been holding onto her master's hand. Outside the star port it wasn't much better. Coronet city was one of the more highly populated cities on Corellia and the district around the star port the most crowded. Master Lyn led her down one street after another in search of something he wouldn't talk about. When at last they came upon an average looking store front he turned to her.

"I have to go in here for a moment," he said, "Wait right here until I return."

Faye simply nodded and leaned against the wall as Lyn stepped inside the store. An eternity seemed to pass then as Faye waited outside, what she had thought would be a short little stop turned out to be something far longer. It had been nearly twenty minutes when she heard the sudden cries of a young woman not far away. Faye was immediately on alert, her eyes darting to the source of the distress. Two men were in the middle of accosting a young woman in broad daylight. They grabbed a bag she carried and ran off into the street.

Faye knew very little about this society but one thing she did understand was that stealing was wrong. She glanced behind her into the store front searching for her master but not seeing him. Knowing that the thieves were getting away she spurned herself into action and took off after them. "Hey wait," she shouted but the crooks ignored her and kept running.

They darted down an alley with Faye close behind, probably not even realizing that they were being chased by a seven year old girl. They ran through a chain link fence and slammed the gate shut, locking it behind them. Not deterred in the least Faye ran up a pile of crates and cleared the fence in one bound. Her knees gave way when she hit the ground and she absorbed the impact by throwing herself into a roll. Using her momentum she popped up back on her feet and continued running. The crooks turned down another alleyway then another and another. Faye never once stopped to think about where they were going, her only goal was to catch them. When they turned down a street that came out onto a busy thoroughfare Faye came careening out of the alley after them only to lose them in the crowd. Her eyes glanced back and forth amongst the many faces but not finding who she was looking for. Only then when she turned around did she realized she was now thoroughly and hopelessly lost.

Grandpa Lyn is not going to be happy about this, she thought to herself...

Treasure Ship Row was one of the first stops of the Leidias family made once they landed in Coronet City. The continuous bazar was rumored to have a shop for everything and everyone and was a popular tourist destination in spite of being located in Coronet’s Blue Sector, which was reputed to be one of the most dangerous parts of town. While Treasure Ship Row itself was relatively safe, if one wandered too far from it, they stood a chance of running into the seedier elements of Coronet very quickly.

This did not deter the Leidiases as both parents felt that their children should see all sides of life, from the prosperous to the destitute, in order to get a more balanced view of what the galaxy was really like. In fact their last vacation had been to Mos Eisley on Tatooine for that very reason. And if trouble did occur… there were two adults fully trained in the ways of the Jedi around to deal with it, though they had thankfully so far never encountered anything too serious yet.

But the thought was forever on Tulsar’s mind. He hadn’t been very enthusiastic about the idea of seeing Corellia. If he’d had his way, they would never have gone this far into the Core Worlds. The only thing that had persuaded him was the knowledge that the Corellian system was fairly autonomous from the Empire. The Emperor allowed nominal Imperial supervision while the Corellians largely governed themselves. It was, frankly, the only area of the Core Worlds he felt somewhat safe about his family visiting.

Still, he, Falanis, and Sysen had their lightsabers hidden away and ready to be used at a moment’s notice if need be, but Tulsar had made it clear that they were to be a last resort. Flashing a lightsaber around was a good way to get noticed and that was the last thing he wanted.

Tulsar set down the device he had been looking at and politely dismissed himself from the merchant still trying to haggle with him. “Okay, gang, time to head back. We’ve got to get a good night’s sleep. We’ve got a big day planned tomorrow.”

Sysen reluctantly put back the sword he had been eyeing. “Can’t we stay a little longer? We’ve barely even seen everything they’ve got here.”

“Your father is right, Sy,” Falanis said to him. “We’ll come back before we leave, okay?”

Tulsar walked up to him. “I promise. Now where is your sister?”

Sysen turned and started to point. “What do you mean, she’s right next to…” He stopped short when he saw that Kalja wasn’t standing next to him anymore. “Oh… that little squirt! How many times does she have to be told not to run off?!”

Tulsar suppressed the cold fear that clamped on his gut. Unfortunately this wasn’t the first time Kalja had done this. She didn’t seem to understand yet how dangerous the galaxy could be. Rather than berate his son for losing track of Kalja, Tulsar let loose with a weary sigh. “We’ll talk about your responsibilities later, Sysen. I’ll go look for her, you and your mother head back to the hotel room in case she shows up there.”

Falanis looked at him worriedly. “Do you want me to see if I can get in touch with CorSec?”

Tulsar shook his head. “I’d rather not draw that kind of attention. Don’t worry, Kalja doesn’t exactly blend into a crowd. It’ll be difficult with all these people here, but I shouldn’t have too much trouble sensing where she is.”

Falanis gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Let me know over the comlink as soon as you’ve found her.”

Tulsar nodded that he would before moving into the crowd…

***

“I like your braids.”

The girl Kalja spoke to turned around and looked at her in surprise. Kalja gave her a friendly smile in return. “You’re looking for those men, right?” She turned and pointed to a nearby building, one hand still clutching her doll. “They’re hiding in there. Are you playing a game or something? Can I join you?”

"It isn't a game," Faye told her simply, "Those men stole something and I'm trying to get it back. You shouldn't come with me, it might be dangerous."

Faye hadn't even considered how ridiculous that might sound coming from a girl the exact same age as the one talking to her now. Where did she even come from? Faye knew this street was crowded but even so her master had taught her to be aware of her surroundings. She wasn't quite an expert at it yet but even she should have sensed a young girl approaching, right?

“So that’s why you were in distress,” Kalja said to her with a nod, before her face took on a determined expression. “Stealing is wrong. We can’t let them get away with that. Come on.”

“What are you-”

But before she had a chance to finish her sentence, Kalja was moving towards the warehouse where the two men were currently hiding. Without even a pause, she started jumping up a series of large crates that were stacked next to the building. Even though they were as large as she was, Kalja leaped them like they were only knee high. She stopped just short of an open window.

Faye stared at the girl in surprise. She couldn't even jump like that and yet the girl made it seem so easy. When Kalja turned to tell her to hurry up she felt a flash of anger and ground her teeth together. I'll show her. She got a running start and using the wall as a spring board she jumped up to the first crate. She would have been proud of herself if not for the fact there were several more crates to go. Muttering to herself under her breath she jumped up and caught the edge of the next crate and quickly pulled herself up. She did that for the next and the next until she finally met the little blond girl at the top.

"Okay, now be quiet," Faye said to her before she crawled into the open window and quickly found a hiding place before checking to see if the coast was clear. "I think they're somewhere below us," she told Kalja as the girl crept up beside her, "I can almost hear their voices."

What was with this girl? How could she be so care free at a moment like this? "Um... Faye," the girl replied sheepishly, she felt like such an idiot, "Anyway, stay here. I don't need you getting in my way."

She crept to the door and carefully cracked it open. "What do you see?" Kalja whispered into her ear, nearly startling her to death.

"I thought I told you to stay back there," Faye snapped, she quickly stole a peek through the door to make sure no one heard them.

"You said they were dangerous," Kalja answered as if that explained everything, "I'm going to help."

Faye ground her teeth together. "I don't need help, now stay here," she slid the door open just enough to creep through. She was on some kind of catwalk and she could clearly hear the crooks below. They seemed to be congratulating themselves on their heist.

Faye quietly scampered across the catwalk until she could see one of the crooks. She didn't have a visual on the other but she knew he was below her somewhere. She glanced over the railing at the first thug and quickly judged the distance between them. Then she hopped over the rail and drop kicked the man in the face. He fell backwards onto the ground writhing around in pain, his hands covering his nose which might have been broken. Faye landed on one knee then quickly stood and turned to face the other only there was more than one.

Frell, she cursed as three more men and a woman stood up in surprise. "Well, what have we got here," one of them said.

"Looks like a runt, boss, you want us ta skin her?"

"I think she looks cute," the woman said, "and she's feisty. Look what she did to Garius' face."

"Looks like an improvement to me," the biggest one of them said, Faye assumed he was the boss, "So tell me, kid. What's your angle? You some kind of Jedi or somethin'?"

He walked around her pecking at her clothes. Faye ground her teeth together but made no move to attack. "Them ain't no Jedi robes, boss," the thug she had been chasing before said, "She's one o' them pally wa types."

The boss looked at the girl with renewed interest. "Really, isn't that interesting. Well, too bad we have to scrap her. Can't have her telling people where our hideout is, you know how it is," he said with a wicked smile and he pointed a blaster at her and pulled the trigger.

Faye quickly ducked to the side into a small crack between two large machines. The bolt the man had fired at her had sailed past her head and singed some of her hair before it burned its way harmlessly into the floor about where the man with the broken nose had been lying. "Hey, watch it, boss," he cried.

"Ah, shaddup and get after her!"

Frell, frell, frell, frell, Faye kept cursing to herself as more blasters appeared and weapons fire trailed after her...

Kalja didn’t hesitate when she saw that Faye was in danger. She leapt down and landed lightly on the floor in the path of the criminals. “Stop it right now!” she demanded as she spread her arms wide. “I’m not going to let you hurt Faye!”

The thieves stopped what they were doing, not quite sure what to make of another little girl dropping into their hideout, let alone also standing up to them. “What is this?” the boss asked incredulously as he gestured to Kalja. “Who’s running the daycare here?”

“Give back the stuff you stole and we’ll let you go,” she said to them without any sign of fear or intimidation at staring down the muzzles of so many blasters. “We don’t need to fight like this.”

“Yeah?” the boss questioned her, now clearly amused. “So what are you going to do if we don’t? You going to kick me in the shins? Throw your dolly at me? This isn’t playtime, kid. You and your little friend picked the wrong people to mess with.”

“You’re a bad man,” Kalja replied as she narrowed her eyes and the air seemed to shift around her. “Bad men get punished.”

“I’ve had enough of this,” the boss growled, apparently not noticing the change in the air around Kalja. “Ice the princess and the bratty upstart too!”

Kalja was about to act, but before she could the door behind her was suddenly kicked open. She looked behind her to see her father standing in the doorway, holding a durasteel pipe he had apparently picked up outside. “You really should have listened to her when you had the chance,” he said to the assembled thugs. “Now you have to deal with me.”

“Just like Mos Eisley!” Kalja said with a giggle.

Tulsar looked at her sternly. “You’re in a lot of trouble, young lady. We’re going to have a long talk about this when we get back.”

“What are you doing?!” the boss shouted before the reunion could go on much longer. “Shoot them, you idiots!!!”

Tulsar didn’t give them a chance. He rushed forward with blinding speed, sending the pipe colliding with the lead thug’s face, knocking him out before the others even knew what to expect. By then it was already too late. He was in the middle of them, delivering expertly landed blows, either with pipe or fists or feet, which sent the criminals reeling. The only one he didn’t attack was the woman and soon the other four were on the floor, battered and unconscious, leaving her alone to point a blaster at him. By the way her hand was shaking though, it was clear she didn’t have the killer mentality of the others.

Tulsar faced her down. “I really don’t want to hit a woman. Give me the blaster and make this easy on yourself. I won’t ask twice.”

She sighed as she dropped it and sat down. “I knew this was going to be a bad day.”

Tulsar picked up the weapon and turned it to the stun setting. “Just be glad you’ll still be alive to talk about it.” He gestured with his head towards Kalja. “You can thank her for that. I wouldn’t be inclined to be so forgiving if she wasn’t here.” He then hit the woman with a stun blast, making her slump to the floor.

Tulsar sighed as he pocketed the blaster. He felt inclined just to throw it away, but that left the chance that someone could use it to trace the incident to him or his family. He looked over at Kalja. “See if you can find some rope. Once we have these people tied up, I’ll leave an anonymous call to CorSec to get the trash.”

As soon as Faye had found a safe place she quickly grabbed her braid and inspected it, a few hairs were charred but other than that it was fine. She was about to turn around and give those punks some payback when the door suddenly burst open and a man rushed in. He seemed to be the other girl's father though Faye could see very little in common between them. Their hair was even different, his hair was more like Faye's and the way he fought was incredible. Faye watched the whole ordeal in awe, her mouth even dropping open. She hadn't even realized she was walking forward until it was all over.

All four of them were down, even the woman and he made it look so easy too. Was this the person Grandfather wanted her to meet? The one that was going to test her in battle? "I, um...," she began, unsure of what to say. Finally she bowed, "Thank you."

Tulsar looked over at the girl and smiled warmly. “I’m going to guess that you’re the person Kalja rushed off to help, am I right?”

“Her name is Faye,” Kalja said as she walked over to them, somehow having managed to find some rope without much of a search. “She was chasing after the bad guys when I found her.”

Tulsar looked at Faye as he accepted the rope from Kalja and began to tie the unconscious thugs to one of the pillars in the warehouse. “Is that right? Did they steal this stuff from you?”

“No,” Faye answered. “I saw them take it from a woman and didn’t see anyone else try to stop them, so I went after them.”

“I see,” Tulsar murmured as he gave an appraising look at the girl. “Seems you have a lot in common with my daughter in that respect. I can see that it looks like you have some training, but don’t you think you’re a little young to be chasing down criminals? Your parents are probably worried about what happened to you.”

Notorious and Echo remained completely still and completely silent, hiding safely behind a shield of glass. They stared inside the building through a small window after watching two girls their own age courageously chase a group of thieves inside. Naturally, the gypsies were not opposed to stealing, but they neither carried nor owned any weapons other than those that could hunt animals. They were a non-violent people and Notorious felt no pity for these particular thieves.

"Wow," Echo said in response to the fantastic event they had both witnessed.

"Soon." The father... he was no fool. Notorious could feel the power emanating from him as if he was staring into the sun. Obviously it was nerves, but Notorious could feel his skin tingle and his chest burn just from thinking about Tulsar. Notorious could always sense people - friends, loved ones, molesters lurking around the corner - but this was beyond the sensations he had felt in the past. There was something special about him... The two girls gave Notorious a similar, weaker feeling, but a distinct one nonetheless. These off-worlders were unlike anything he had ever encountered.

"We should be careful, but lets talk to them," Notorious decided. "I have a feeling that they won't be easily fooled, but I'm certain they will help us."

"You think they will?" Echo asked, suddenly uncertain and worried since Notorious showed signs of doubt. Notorious squinted at the foreigners as if it would help him determine the answer. The feeling couldn't be described with thoughts, much less words, but Notorious felt... right.

"I--don't have parents," Faye answered sheepishly, her eyes falling to the floor at her feet, "My Grandfather brought me here to meet someone, but I..."

Her words trailed off. "Are," she began in an uncertain tone, glancing back up at him with a hint of hope in her eyes, "are you him? My...," she was going to say 'real father' but the words caught in her throat. "The one who's supposed to test me?" She finished.

“I’m afraid that would be news to me, Faye,” Tulsar said to her after he finished making a call to CorSec and offered her his hand. “Come on, let’s find your grandfather. I’m sure he’s looking for you too.”

He turned to Kalja who was apparently looking at something. “Kalja, time to go.”

Kalja nodded before pointing at a window. “Some more kids are watching us.”

"Yo Vos! We just got an anonymous tip that those jokers you've been tracking can be found at one of the old east side warehouses over in zone 3. Caller said you'd find them all tied up with all the evidence you need to bank them."

Devon Vos looked up from his terminal and the paperwork he'd been finishing up on the investigation into the two kids who'd gone on a joy ride through the market section at the shout of the prescient desk Sargent, the mirth on his face suggested it might be a waste of his time but it would at least get him out of the house and away from the Captain and his new Imperial observer,

"Thank ya Tinny, I'll take a unit over to go check it out. I've been after those jokers for weeks now."

Tinny laughed and returned to monitoring the local surveillance and switchboard. Devon plucked his duty jacket from the back of his chair and headed for the door,

"I'll have unit 27 meet ya there, forwarding the address to your pad." Tinny added as slipped past the desk with a smile and wave.

the day was a pretty one and it felt good to fill his lungs with the fresh air, as he made his way across the parking lot to his skimmer, he palmed open the door and climbed in, within minutes he was in the air on his way to the warehouse district. He had to admit, the theft and smuggling intervention unit wasn't nearly as exciting as his time in the tactical unit had been but it was by far more interesting with regards to the types of beings he had the chance to meet. glancing over at his map he swung his skimmer around in a long lasy arc over the warehouse he was heading for. Below he noticed the uniformed unit swinging onto the street, keying up the comm he opened the stardard channel,

"Unit 27 this is Inspector Vos, hold off on approach, I'm survailing the location from above before moving in."

Roger that came back the reply, he moved the on board sensor sweep through it's paces, the thermals would confirm or deny the presence of anyone inside the building so they'd know ahead of time if they should expect any trouble...

OOC: I'll leave it up to Notorious as to whether his two peeps are still there or not and give him a chance to have them split before I land if they are or stick around.

Faye glanced away from him sheepishly. She really did feel like a fool right now. She got herself lost, nearly killed and had to be rescued. Now she had to tell this stranger she has no idea where she is. "I--don't know," she choked the words out and they sounded just as foolish aloud as they did in her head, "I've never been here before, but...," she pointed towards a nearby alley, "I remember coming from over there."

In spite of her father’s promise to lecture her later about wandering off, Kalja considered this a good day. She had made a new friend and helped stop some thieves, thereby making the galaxy a better place to live. While it was true her father had been the one to actually beat them, Kalja was sure she and Faye could have managed it if he hadn’t been there.

While Kalja didn’t have the fighting moves of Faye and her father, she knew she had the power to stop those thieves too. Kalja had always been aware of her own connection to the Force - even before she knew what to call it - but recently she was learning that her connection was much stronger than anyone else in her family. No one else seemed to know about it, or if they did, they weren’t talking about it. Kalja had been playing with it in secret, just in case, waiting for the right moment to surprise everyone by doing something really cool with it…

Kalja’s attention was drawn away from her private thoughts as she listened to Faye admit that she didn’t know where her grandfather was.

“I can find him!” Kalja volunteered, even raising her free hand, eager at the chance to help Faye. “I’m good at finding people. Nobody can beat me at hide-and-seek!”

“What? How can you find him?” Faye demanded. “You don’t even know what he looks like!”

“I do so!” Kalja argued. “I saw him in your mind!”

“Kalja…” Tulsar said to her patiently. “What have I told you about reading minds without permission?”

“It was only her surface thoughts, honest!” Kalja said innocently. “Faye was so worried, I had to do something.”

Tulsar let out a sigh of exasperation. “That doesn’t excuse you.”

“I’m sorry,” she apologized with a slight bow of her head before her remorse disappeared shortly afterwards and she started tugging on Tulsar’s arm. “I know where he is! This way!”

As the Jedi and the children began to move away from the warehouse, a man watched with interest and grudging admiration from his position on a nearby public bench. The man was wearing plain, dirty clothes that had gained a few holes from his time in the forests around Coronet City. By all accounts of passersby, he looked human, but he was about as far removed from humanity as a Yevetha, and he was twice as smart and far more deadly. He was also five hundred times older. He was an Anzat, a beast of desire and ultimate arrogance, feeding on the "soup" of other species - the brightest, the smartest, the most confident, and especially, the most sensitive to the Force. And he had seen a lot of things in his time, but children with as much presence as he had smelled these last few days... that probably topped the list. First the orphan boy, and now this girl, with her father...

As they walked away, he stood and slowly followed them from a distance. He leaned toward them slightly, as if that would help close the gap, and breathed deep. There was something else about the man and his daughter... they had a distinctly... familiar flavor. He thought back, first decades, then centuries, until he finally remembered: Kalja Maysul Leidias. These two... were members of the Leidias family. The creature resisted the urge to scowl at the departing Jedi. All those years ago, another Leidias had escaped his grasp. He so wanted to feed on a Leidias; they had such a distinct aroma... like a spark of destiny was in them.Perhaps this time, they would not be so lucky.

After all, last time, the Jedi had garnered a lot of help from other people, and he had been alone. But he was not alone. Sick and demented though they were, he had found a group of Anzati on Corellia, four years ago, almost feral from hunger. They were young and weak and did not know how to hunt. At a low point in his own life, with so few Jedi and such good protection on Imperial politicians, he found himself willing to stoop to their level and consume gypsies and the ostracized, just to stay alive. So he took them under his wing, commanded them; they had led him to the boy, among the lowlifes in the wilderness. He let them feed on those lowlifes, people who would not be missed. He abstained as much as he could without starving; he wanted that presence, that strength of spirit. And now, following that boy had led him to find... others.

Breaking off his pursuit, he headed out of the city, toward the small cave where the other Anzati dwelt. He had some planning to do if he was going to satisfy his hunger. He was not worried about losing their trail; he had their scent, and as long as they did not leave Coronet City, he would find them again. And if the Force was as conniving a wench as it had shown itself to be over the years, he would not even have to. The boy had lost a friend - a pitiful meal if ever there was one, but it would keep his minions sated for a time. And the boy would probably seek help in finding this lost friend - and the Jedi were always the first to help. The monster doubted that these Jedi were any different.

Rethe Frettan had found two Jedi savants in the same city, one of them the family of an old foe. The hunt would soon begin in earnest. He licked his dry lips in anticipation.

Notorious moved away from the window and shook his head. Notorious's brain was convinced that his suspicions were false, but his heart - his instincts - they felt otherwise. The little girl had spotted him. But how did she know I was there?

"Should we talk to them now?" Echo asked, breaking Notorious's chain of thought. The Force sensitive occupants of the warehouse were clearing out and leaving the bounded thieves behind.

"No," Notorious said, already heading towards the alley they had used earlier to reach their current location. "CorSec is coming."

"You sense them?" Echo asked in awe. Notorious grinned.

"No, that grown-up called them. We should go." Echo's expression dropped slightly with disappointment, but Notorious was quite proud of his jest. The gypsy children faded back into the alley ways like a pair of burglars disappearing after a heist. Notorious led the way through familiar hidden passages, his senses attuned to the children he'd seen in the warehouse. They had a scent that his nose couldn't smell - but his mind could. Notorious tried to explain it to Echo, but with each new analogy she became more confused.

"Have you ever felt hungry, but you were actually thirsty?"

"No," Echo replied.

"Or... haven't you ever had your eyes closed but you can still hear people moving around? It's like that, except I don't hear them."

"That doesn't make any sense," Echo scoffed. Suddenly, Notorious held out a hand to stop Echo at the edge of an alley way. Notorious shushed her and stared intently at something beyond her point of view. It was just a simple store on an average street.

Devon watched the scope as his skimmer circled high enough above the building that there was no chance of anyone in or around the building to hear it's muffled repulsors, the thermals showed a number of beings in the main space of the warehouse with a couple smaller signatures around the edges of the building but nothing that was moving,

"Ok 27, move in and secure the front, I'm bringing my skimmer down in the back."

Roger that, 27 out came back the reply, Devon dropped the skimmer out of the sky in a slow lazy arc and dropped it smoothly to the ferrocrete alleyway behind the warehouse. Swinging out of the cockpit he smoothly drew service blaster from it's underarm holster, quickly closing on the rear doorway and with a swift forward kick caved in the thin thermo-plast door. Sweeping in through the door way he swept the room finding only shipping crates, somewhere on the other side of the crates he heard someone who sounded human groaned, somewhere in the front of the building he could hear the front doors cave in under the assault of the uniformed unit, coming around the end of the stack of crates he found a quartet of men all tied to a vertical support beam and a single female sprawled on the deck one of her arms twitching from the results of a stun bolt. Holstering his blaster he pulled his comm and keyed open the channel,

"Central this is Inspector Vos, I need a couple buses to my location, at least another uniformed unit, and a CSI."

Understood, dispatching two medi-vacs, units 28 and 30, and CSI 3 came the reply as Devon squated down in front of the one that was moaning. He reached down and twisted the unsocked toe that was sprawled out in front of him and received a sharp yelp as the man's eyes came open and shakily focused somewhat on himself, the man seemed confused and the blood dripping down his scalp pretty much gauranteed he had a head injury,

"name?" Devon asked.

The man squinted at him and then tried to spit on him but it just dribbled down his chin, "Ain't tellin you nothin pug!" the slurred response came eventually.

"Yeah... no surprise there. That's ok, we'll get you patched up and then I'll get my answers."

Turning his attention to the crates around the room that formed the walls around the space where he'd found the men, "Though I doubt I'll need anything from you boys with all this evidence."

the two uniforms of unit 27 finally wound thier way through an apparent maze of the crates from the front of the building, "Keep an eye on them, I'm going to look around the perimeter."

The first of the two nodded and Devon worked his way back around to the back door and began to work his way around the northern edge of the building, it was obvious that someone else had taken down these five but he'd seen no sign of force entry prior to his own which meant whoever did it had come in some other way. Turning down the alleyway he found a short stack of crates that were high enough to access the high windows of the warehouse, hopping up onto the lower crate he poked his head up above the higher and smiled, there was a disturbed layer of dust with a clear boot print in it,

"Bingo." he grinned, off to his left a noise caught his attention and his head jerked and his hand went for his blaster but there was nothing there, pulling the blaster out he worked his way slowly down the alleyway till he head the sound of feet retreating away, he sprinted down to the opening of the alleyway and just made out what looked like a kid turning the corner a block down. Stowing his blaster again he shook his head, at best they were witnesses to what had happened, there was no way some kids had taken down the thugs in the warehouse. behind him the sound of serins filled the air as the other two units he'd asked for swept around the corner. He waited for the lead unit to stop,

"Secure the street, I want a two block cordon. Standard canvas of the area and find out if there's any surveillance in the area and keep out of that alley, have the CSIs sweep it when they get here."

The officer nodded and then turned and started passing along orders...

"Look, it's Gadget!" Echo piped up. The skinny little girl hopped to her feet and ran away with reckless certainty. Notorious reached out to grab her but she had been too quick and he had been too focused on the agents. Notorious had not sensed a trace of his best friend nor did he predict Echo's sudden action.

"Wait!" The boy called out in a hoarse whisper. Notorious also rose to his feet and followed Echo into an alley at top speed. As he rounded the corner he saw Echo galloping awkwardly to the other side. For an instant, Notorious saw a boy turn the corner at the other end. The back of the boy's head was familiar... but Notorious did not sense the presence of his friend.

"Gadget!" Echo called out. Notorious beckoned her to stop as he closed in on her.

"Echo! Wait! I don't sense him."

Echo slowed to a jog and turned the next corner into a busy street. "You don't need to sense him, I see him, there!" The girl stopped to catch her breath and pointed into a crowd. Notorious caught up to her and humored her. He examined the pedestrians and searched for a child...

"There! By the white speeder," Echo lost her patience and began to run again. Notorious spotted the white speeder parked by the side of the road, four doors and a closed canopy. Notorious glanced at the adjacent pedestrian path and at that moment he saw it too - the back of Gadget's head. It looked just like him...

"Wait, Echo, I still don't sense him? What if it's somebody else?" Notorious began to run. He begged his friend to not get her hopes up, but he couldn't stop her.

"I see him, you don't need to sense him!" The two children pushed their way past tall grown ups lumbering through the street. Notorious lost sight of Echo for a minute as he squeezed through a pair of business men. When he arrived at the parked speeder she was no where in sight.

"Gadget?" Notorious asked hesitantly. Danger.

The speeder door opened in one quick, silent movement. Notorious sensed the attack coming from behind. The boy whirled around, ready to strike, but he was immediately grabbed by four pairs of giant hands and dragged inside. The door shut and the vehicle skipped off. A young woman stepped out of the crowd and watched the speeder hastily vanish. She raised one eyebrow defiantly. What was the world coming to when gypsy children are simply snatched right off the street? Some people would ignore this travesty, but she was prepared to report it.

Notorious's head swayed from side to side. The boy felt as though he were trapped in a dream. He felt as though the world was not real anymore, and it was very frightening. A little girl was crying... Echo. Adults were talking. They were mad.

"How was I supposed to know two random children would recognize him?"

"We should drink their soup and forget we ever had this plan."

"No! The planet's authorities will not notice one child gone missing, but three? We must follow through with our plan."

"You're insane, Zareeti! 600 years on this planet has driven you man."

"You may be right, Vacellious, but I am also right. We've gone too far this time, we must leave."

"If this one doesn't stop crying, I'm going to consume her now!" The humanoid named Vacellious lunged at Echo, a pair of sharp, thin tentacles whipping out of his face and stopping inches from the poor girl's nose. She screamed.

"Control yourself!" Zareeti warned. Notorious lifted his head, taking in the sight of his captivity with watery eyes. Four people were in one small, dark room. Echo was sitting on a bed in the corner, and Notorious was crumpled on the floor as though he had been dumped there earlier. Notorious dared not lift his head further out of fear for the two men. He saw only their lower halves. They wore very fashionable, floor length robes and dress boots. The boots looked like the extra shiny kind a teenager would wear, but the man sounded at least in his thirties.

"My apologies," Vacellious bowed his head slightly. The humanoid alien then turned to the crying Echo, and with a single glance the small girl inexplicably lost consciousness. Notorious widened his eyes in horror. Adrenalin flowed to his veins and he felt himself grow ten times stronger, but he knew he was no match for these aliens. Not only were they grownups, they appeared to have a special ability. Notorious would be patient... they didn't know he was awake.

A soft beep broke the silence. Zareeti looked at his commlink.

"Some one is at the door. Probably CorSec if some one saw us."

"We'll have to kill him."

"Of course. By the time his reinforcements come, we'll already be at the star port with the boy." The two men left the room in a hurry and shut the door behind them. Notorious immediately stood up and checked on Echo... she was fast asleep. Gadget was no where to be seen. The boy knelt down next to the durasteel door and pressed his ear against the cold metal. He heard a door open... talking, stiff at first, then suddenly... soothing. The voices grew closer, crossed past the door, then disappeared into another room.

'He doesn't stand a chance... He doesn't know...' Notorious thought. It was dangerous, but the time to escape was now. Notorious tried the door, and luckily it slid open without protest. The boy picked up the sleeping girl and slung her over his shoulder. He tip toed into the hallway and constantly glanced in every direction. The Anazti aliens were located in a room somewhere to his right, so Notorious chose to go left. They had been kidnapped and taken to an aristocratic household. Everything looked completely normal for an upscale couple. The Anzati must have been hiding here as predators for a long, long time...

Notorious reached the main entrance and spotted Gadget standing dumbly by the door.

"Gadget?" Notorious whispered, quickly approaching his friend with urgency. Gadget simply stared off into the distance, completely unaware of his friends. "Oh, Gadget... what have they done? How?"

Danger... The aliens were coming. There was utter silence in the backroom, which was soon broken by footsteps. Notorious's adrenalin boosted up to maximum. Notorious unlocked and opened the front door, but not before turning back to Gadget one last time.

"I will save you, brother." Notorious slipped out of the main entrance and found himself in a complex of homes. With Echo weighing down his shoulders, Notorious stepped onto a lift and disappeared. The two Anzati popped their heads out of their open door but saw no sign of the escaped children.

Panting, dripping with sweat, and exhausted, Notorious collapsed at the door of the nearest CorSec office. Echo was not completely asleep, but rather she was in a delirious daze.

"Stay here, Echo, you'll be safe here," Notorious said with uneven breath. The boy rolled over and propped Echo up against the wall. She mumbled something unintelligible. Notorious felt bad leaving her alone, but she was in no shape to help him save Gadget. The boy returned to his feet and looked through the transparent windows of the office. An agent inside spotted him, locking eyes with the tangled hair boy. Notorious turned, gathered his breath, and ran away.

The Anzati had a presence lathered with evil and slime. After meeting them once, Notorious could not shake their sickly feeling. Those men were ancient, and they were just as tyrannical as they were old. Notorious could sense their presence a mile away. Finding them would be easy, but Notorious was going to have to be smart about the rescue. The secret of their power is their greatest weapon, so first Notorious would wait until they were out in the open.

"The spaceport," Notorious whispered to himself. That was his destination. He was slow on foot, but the port was not far for a gypsy sneaking through the alley ways.

Half an Hour Later
_____________________________________

"Hey, come back here!" A man in typical space pilot gear called out as he dashed out of one of the terminals of the Coronet spaceport. "Damn, gypsy! Give that back!"

A boy was fleeing from him at a feverish pace. He hopped over a short flight of stairs, ignoring every step. The pilot was slightly overweight and not nearly as agile as the young boy. The man cursed as he ran down the stairs and followed the boy through a door labeled "Maintenance Only." Once inside, the pilot had lost sight of the child.

"Where?" The annoyed space jockey sighed and wandered along an industrial hallway in search of another door. When he found one, he came face to face with Zareeti and Vacellious. The two Anzati smiled falsely.

"Today your destiny becomes clear," Zareeti declared.

"What? What the frell do you mean?"

"You're giving us a ride off Corellia," Vacellious insisted. The pilot scoffed at their boldness and pushed his jacket open enough to reveal a blaster holstered to his hip.

When the space pilot entered the maintenance door, Notorious had his eye on him. Gadget was under the influence of a spell, acting out the wishes of the Anzati. Notorious would be forced to overpower the boy in order to save him. He wasn't looking forward to that.

Notorious made sure he wasn't in direct sight of any adults as he approached the door. He walked with purpose and kept his eyes averted from his destination. His plan was to slip in right at the last second. No one who had seen him walking would have suspected that he would suddenly disappear into the maintenance door.

Once inside, the boy hopped over a railing and hunkered down between two humming cages of machinery. Notorious focused his thoughts on Gadget. He tried to sense his friend's presence, but it was incredibly weak. Whatever the aliens had done to him, it had stripped him of his aura. Still, there was a tiny itch on the edge of Notorious's senses that felt familiar. The boy remained in his hunched position and closed his eyes. He tried to suppress his senses. Notorious ignored the sounds and smells around him, and he pushed away all thoughts except for those about Gadget.

Hes coming...

Notorious opened his eyes slightly elevated his height until he caught a glimpse over the top of his hiding spot. Three men and one boy were headed his way. Notorious hunched down out of sight. They hadn't seen him.... The boy slowed his breath and crouched into the smallest ball he could turn himself into. He was a spec on the wall... a maintenance droid working silently in the corner... Notorious prayed that he would not be seen. The door slid open and the unlikely band sauntered outside. Notorious spotted the stylish boots and long formal dress of the Anzati.

'They're going to steal that man's star ship...' Notorious realized. The time to strike was soon. Notorious would have to rely on creating a scene if he wanted to stop the men now. Gadget would not be separated from them before they boarded the ship. Notorious imagined himself grabbing his friend and screaming for help. Help me! They're kidnapping us! Gadget would stand rigid and silent like a feeble child. The aliens would grab Notorious by the shoulder and stare into his eyes... then he'd be finished. He too would walk obediently along to his death. Notorious wrapped his arms around his knees and squeezed. He was scared, the most scared he'd ever been.

"I have to try," the boy said. Tears welled up in his eyes and he forced them back. "I have to try!" Notorious released one uncontrollable whimper. His face twitched and his tears fell. He wiped the liquid away with one dirty sleeve and pathetically snorted. Gypsies deserve life. The space pilot deserves life. The seven year old boy stood up, his face smeared with dirt and sorrow, and walked out the door.

Notorious darted outside and panned his head in both directions. The others were casually walking up the steps to the entrance. Once inside, they would be a mere twist and turn away from solitude again. The young boy immediately bumped into a family, fresh tears still on his face. Instantly, he had their attention.

"Those men are stealing my brother, they've kidnapped him from my village!" Notorious blurted out, then pushed his way past them. The boy kept up this pattern of colliding with everyone in the way. Soon, Notorious was a screaming spectacle running up to the three men and single child stepping into the space port lobby. Notorious burst inside with a dramatic stance, spreading his legs and pointing his finger at the abductors.

Gadget and the space pilot remained still and silent. Zareeti and Vacellious turned to face their accuser with yellow eyes flaring up in anger. They exchanged a brief glance that contained an entire telepathic conversation. Don't run. It'll be easier to subdue the child than blast our way out.

"Boy," Vacellious sneered. "You're in serious trouble now. Come along with us, and behave yourself." The Anzat calmly narrowed his yellow eyes and stared at Notorious. The alien began a slow, hypnotizing walk toward Notorious. The boy could feel himself growing physically sleepy. Notorious's vision was playing tricks on him, and his mind was suddenly unaware of time. He could not remember whether he had been standing there for five seconds or five minutes... but Vacellious was still stalking toward him.

'No!' Notorious thought. 'It's their power, fight it!' The Anzati had a special power that humans did not. Notorious also had a special power that humans did not, and though he didn't know how to use it yet, he knew that now was the time to test it. Vacellious was forcing his way into Notorious's mind, the boy could feel it. Everyone else in the world felt like a butterfly tickling his sixth sense, but the Anzat felt like a needle puncturing his skin.

"No!" Notorious shouted, his face wracked with pain. The was boy perspiring heavily, the strain of his struggle apparent on his face. Vacellious furrowed his brow with concern. The child was resisting his mind control. Vacellious had only seen such resistance from force users. Notorious writhed and groaned, but no matter how much his body fought against the control it did not matter. The battle was within his mind.

Notorious had never thought of his mind as an arena. Before, it was more like a web spreading out a long distance, or more like a cloud drifting blissfully. Now, his mind was a castle under siege. The Anzat's influence was like intoxication. Notorious felt his conscious being lured away by sensations of pleasure and drowsiness. The boy felt himself being detached, stolen. Notorious fought against it. He thought of his past memories first, then he reminded himself of his own existence. I exist. This man cannot take me away.

"Stop!" Notorious shouted as soon as the telepathic connection broke. The boy had control over himself again. He fell to his knees and struggled to speak through his frantic panting. "Help... us!"

"Impossible!" Vacellious growled. Zareeti immediately came to his partner's side. With a flick of his wrist, Notorious fell silent again save for a few convulsions. Groups of onlookers were forming and the situation was escalating. The two Anzati glanced at each other again, sharing their thoughts. The jig is up. The boy is Force sensitive. It's time to run.

"Hey, what's going on here?" A random voice in the hustle and bustle of the space port finally chimed in.

"We were just leaving," Zareeti announced. A brash young security officer came forward with one hand on her holstered pistol. She blocked the way for the others to pass and looked like she was ready for action.

"You can pass as soon as you explain all this," the young woman said. Zareeti sighed and turned to Vacellious. They exchanged another glance. The two Anzati raised their arms and widened their stances. Gadget and the space pilot suddenly fell limp and Notorious gasped for air as the control over his mind was released. Zareeti stared directly into the security officer's eyes and stretched out one hand in her direction. Her eyes widened and her grip tightened, but those were the last remnants of her resistance. From his pathetic vantage point as a clump on the floor, Notorious watched helplessly as the aliens carried out their escape.

The security officer shakily unholstered her blaster in perfect time with the sultry movements of Zareeti's hand. His wrist bent and his fingers curved as though he controlled the woman like a puppet. The officer tossed him the blaster. Zareeti caught the weapon his one hand, then with his other he waved her aside. The young woman passed out with no further fight. The small crowd that had formed backed away in fear of the pistol.

"We could have done this the easy way," Zareeti declared, glancing at the exhausted gypsy at the top of the stairs. He felt an urge to spit but suppressed it. A traveler, a middle-aged man, inched his right hand toward his concealed weapon, but Vacellious spotted him and seized him with a clench of his fist. He was brave, but not a Force user. His face flashed a grim look of surprise before he fell to his knees. "But who could have predicted such a twist of fate... the gypsy boy is a Force-user. Worth good money to the Empire. Fight us and die for this lost boy, or forget this ever happened and take the orphan instead. Up to you, but we've really got to run."

Notorious felt his stomach lurch. The crowd would have to rush in all at once to stop the aliens... but Notorious had little hope all of them would suddenly risk their lives for a gypsy boy. He prayed.

Suddenly there was a light touch on Notorious’ shoulder and his despair seemed to inexplicably wane as he turned to look at who had helped him. He saw a young girl around the same age as him, blonde with braids in her hair, smiling at him. In her other hand she clutched a small doll. With a start, Notorious realized it was the same girl he had seen in the warehouse the other night.

“I found you,” she said to him cheerfully. “My name is Kalja, what’s yours?”

A teenaged boy crouched down next to both of them. “Introductions can wait later, Kalja. Let’s get him to safety while Mom and Dad handle the rest.”

***

From out of the crowd, Tulsar Leidias stepped out to confront the two men. He wasn’t too pleased about becoming the center of attention like this, but Kalja hadn’t really left him any choice. They had been on the Windfall as Tulsar was running some system checks on the starship with an eye towards departing the planet soon. Beating those thugs had brought him closer to CorSec’s attention than he wanted to be, which meant it was time to go.

However, she had run off again, insisting she had to help the boy she had seen in the alley the other night. By the time the family had caught up to her, they had witnessed the scene in the starport and since the authorities didn’t seem to be capable of stopping them, Tulsar found his own sense of moral obligation compelled him to step forward. He just hoped that doing the right thing wouldn’t get his family incarcerated or worse by the Empire.

He had had to play this very carefully…

“Accusing an innocent child of being a Force-user just to take the heat off yourselves is pretty low, even by the standards of a terrorist,” he said to them. “You must be really desperate if you think these good people are going to be suckered by such a transparent ploy.”

Falanis walked up next to him. Her look of determination matched his and Tulsar suppressed a smile. If anything, her sense of justice was greater than his. She knew what it meant if they were revealed to be Jedi just as much as he did, but there was never any question in her mind about helping. “The only people the Empire should be going after here are the two scumbags holding a blaster on everyone.”

The one with a blaster narrowed his eyes at them and Tulsar felt a pressure on his mind. It didn’t feel quite like a mind trick, but it was potent whatever it was. Fortunately it was nothing his training couldn’t overcome. Falanis, too, shook it off. Whoever these beings were, it was clear by the look of shock on their faces that being rebuffed so easily wasn’t the outcome they had been expecting.

“You…” the one with the blaster sputtered, “…you’re Jedi! Both of you!”

That caused a murmur to run through the crowd, which Tulsar cut off with a healthy laugh. “This again? Are you so intimidated by someone standing up to you that you can’t think of anything new? That’s sad. Do yourselves a favor and give up before this gets downright embarrassing.”

“Whoever you are, you’re dead!” the man retorted and squeezed his finger down on the trigger.

That’s when Tulsar made his move. He hadn’t chosen the place to confront the two men at random. In front of him was a metal coffee table for people at the spaceport to use while they waited for their flight. With a kick underneath it, he sent the table flying up to intercept the blaster bolts before they hit him.

Falanis was in motion at the same time, grabbing a nearby duffel bag and flinging it at the man with the blaster. The weapon was knocked out of his hand by the heavy object and sent flying out of reach.

Weaponless and without the terror of the crowd to hold them back, the two men glared at Tulsar and Falanis for a moment before turning around and running off. Tulsar was half-tempted to let spaceport security handle the rest, but considering what he knew about them now, he wasn’t so sure they would be able to handle it. Whoever these men were, they were definitely more dangerous than your garden variety terrorists. If they got away, they would just end up harming someone else and Tulsar wasn’t about to have that on his conscience.

“Stay with the kids,” Tulsar said to Falanis before running off in pursuit…

The boy's prayers were answered in the best way. A beam of light brandished its glory in a den of darkness, cutting down the shadows and washing away the nightmares. Notorious was no longer trapped. The evil slime of the aliens coated his senses, but the reappearance of the family from the warehouse was a splash of water. No, they were more like a wave crashing against a beach.

"You came," Notorious said weakly. The two children were quite the contradiction of each other. Kalja was bright-eyed and clean, while Notorious was a mess of dirt and hair. Different as they were, the boy's golden brown eyes were full of gratitude. To think, only a day earlier he had planned to trick these people and now they had come to his rescue. Apparently, honesty still had its rewards in the galaxy.

The teenager began to hoist Notorious up, but the little boy protested and assured his saviors that he was fine.

"I heal quick," Notorious announced softly. "Look." There was a scrape on his elbow acquired from his fall. Notorious held his arm up and revealed the raw skin. Right before their eyes, the blood dried and the flesh regenerated. Notorious waited a moment before he casually picked the scab off, revealing freshly healed skin beneath.

"I have to save Gadget," Notorious told them, pointing to the other gypsy boy in the lobby. Like the space pilot, the young boy lay perfectly still on the ground. Most of Notorious's prayers were answered on that day, but he would always remember the one that wasn't.

The Anzati were on the run with Tulsar right behind them. Surely by now the monsters had lost their power over Gadget, Notorious thought. The boy practically dove onto the ground and turned his friend onto his back.

"Gadget!" Notorious called his friend's name hopefully, but the gypsy did not respond. The older boy's eyes were hazy and cold. A drop of blood dribbled from his nostril and rested on his cold lips. The weak life force that Notorious has sensed earlier had completely disappeared. "What's wrong? Wake up, Gadget, they're gone... Wake up, you have to wake up now! It's time to go!"

Notorious had never heard of Anzati. They were monsters from folktales he heard under different names, and Notorious had no way of knowing that his friend had been brain dead the entire time. One of the Anzati had punctured Gadget's brain with his sickly, sharp tentacles and sucked out enough brain matter to turn the gypsy into a zombie. The boy survived for a short while, but he had become more similar to a vegetable than a boy.

Notorious spoke to Falanis approaching from the front, to Kalja the girl with golden hair, to the teenager behind him he didn't know, to anyone in the lobby who was still listening, to a higher power or omnipotent presence, and finally to himself. The boy grasped Gadget's collar and shook him in desperation.

"Why? Why this? Why him? Some one fix him, some one, please..." Notorious placed his forehead against his friend's and cried. "It's not fair..."

Again, Notorious felt a hand on his shoulder. There was much pain, sorrow, and regret in the boy, but with a simple touch came waves of serenity. It was Kalja. Even then, as a tiny child, she was special. Notorious would never forget that terrible day in the lobby. Those fateful hours were a testament to balance in the universe. Good versus evil, light versus dark, and life versus death. A wonderful friendship died that day, but in exchange, Notorious met the Leidiases. History would not have been the same without that poor gypsy boy's sacrifice. Notorious looked up at Falanis, then to the young man, and finally at Kalja whose smile was bitter sweet. Her eyes shared his sorrow while her face seemed to say, "It's going to be okay."

Falanis knelt down to face him at eye level. Notorious already knew what she was going to say. It was time to leave. The boy nodded knowingly at her and wiped his face against his shoulder.

Falanis wasn’t worried about her husband… much. If there was one skill Tulsar excelled in, it was combat. As loving a father and spouse as he was, it seemed that he never really seemed truly at ease unless he was in the middle of a fight. Some kind of mental block seemed to prevent him from accessing his full strength in the Force unless his life was being threatened somehow. Those two terrorists had no idea who they had been messing with.

Still, that strange power that they had tried to exert over their minds troubled Falanis a bit. It seemed clear enough by the dead body of the young boy’s friend that there was more to that pair than met the eye. Something about it, and the way the boy had suddenly collapsed, nagged at the corners of her mind, but there wasn’t time to think too much about it now.

She wanted to tell Sysen to grab Gadget’s body so they could give the child a proper burial somewhere, but time and circumstances dictated otherwise. They only had a few moments before spaceport security arrived and that would lead to a lot of questions that Falanis didn’t want to answer.

To the crowd, Falanis loudly made a proclamation. “I’m getting these kids to a hospital, make a path! When security arrives, point them in the direction my husband went!”

Kalja reached over and grabbed the other boy’s hand and smiled at him. “Come on, it’s safe now.”

***

As it turned out, they didn’t end up going to either a hospital or the Windfall. Either option would have possibly led the authorities to learning just who it was who had faced down the two killers in the spaceport. Instead Falanis commandeered a waiting landspeeder, overriding its systems with a surreptitious wave of her hand so that it would allow her to drive it.

Sysen, sitting in the passenger seat, asked the obvious question as they sped away from the spaceport. “Mom, where are we going?”

Falanis shook her head. “Somewhere safe to wait for your father. With any luck, our friends from Bunduki last night will still be around. If not, I’ll find us a motel somewhere that doesn’t ask questions.”

From the backseat, Kalja’s cheerful voice piped up. “Yay! We get to see Faye again!”

Sysen just rolled his eyes at her. “Only you would think about it like that.”

***

As they drove towards the hotel where Faye and her grandfather were staying, Kalja looked over at the boy she had helped rescue. “You didn’t answer my question, you know. I’m Kalja.” She pointed to the teen in the front seat, “…that’s my brother, Sysen…” and then shifted her aim to her mother, “…and that’s my mom, Falanis.”

The boy looked over at her. “I’m… Notorious.”

Kalja tilted her head to the side in confusion. “Notorious for what?”

“No, that’s my name.”

Kalja giggled. “That’s a silly, you need a real name.” She studied him for a bit before nodding to herself in satisfaction. “I’ll call you Danolie, because you can patch yourself up just like my dolly, Danola.” Having said so, she raised the doll up to show where the homemade cloth doll had been sewed up from previous tears.

Sysen twisted in his seat to fix his sister with a patient stare. “You can’t just start renaming people, Kalja. That’s pretty rude.”

“But he needs a real name,” Kalja insisted as she crossed her arms defiantly, “and it’s a good name!”

Sysen sighed and then looked over at Notorious. “Don’t worry about my sister, kid, she doesn’t live in the same galaxy as the rest of us.”

As Sysen and Notorious locked eyes, the little boy nonchalantly pulled a bug out of his hair and ate it. Sysen gaped at the horror of it all. Notorious didn't seem to notice.

"Danolie," the little boy repeated dozily. The aftermath of the tragedy at Coronet spaceport left the poor boy empty and confused. What was his destiny? The gypsies, the Force, the Empire? He was young and uneducated - he was a rolling stone. "I like it." Danolie glanced at the doll Kalja clung to lovingly, Danola. The small toy reminded Notorious of Echo sitting outside CorSec. Oh, Echo... I'm so sorry. I'll never see you again, will I?

Danolie glanced out the nearest window in deep thought. Jedi... Worth good money to the Empire. If the gypsies found out... Danolie shuddered. No more thoughts today. Thinking was growing painful. The bad memories are for Notorious, now he is called Danolie.

"Danolie Notorious," the little boy yawned. "Thanks..." Danolie fell asleep, his head tilting backwards and resting on his unruly mane of brown hair.

Sysen shook his head in resignation as he looked at Kalja. “You make the strangest friends.”

***

Tulsar’s pursuit of the two who had caused so much trouble in the spaceport ended abruptly when they ran down an empty corridor that ended in a pair of sealed blast doors. It was a dead end.

They spun to face them, angry and a little desperate. It seemed clear enough to Tulsar that they weren’t used to being the ones running away. He was sure that he was picking up a sense of outraged pride from them over the situation.

“There’s nowhere else to go, guys,” Tulsar said to them. “I want to know who and what you are right now. You can fool the rest back there, but not me. You’re not just ordinary thugs, that’s for sure.”

The Anzati were an ancient race. It was cleverness and disguise that granted them survival. Both Zareeti and Vacellious were well aware that an armed Jedi would over power them. The two aliens stood still and silent for a moment while they telepathically brainstormed their options. The two men turned to face Tulsar and sneered. Even after their evil intentions were revealed, the Anzati looked beautiful and harmless in their stylish garb and fancy hair.

"Or else what?" Zareeti said soothingly, placing his palms together in a gesture of peace. "You'll strike us down in cold blood?"

"Jedi do not kill," Vacellious interjected.

"And authorities here cannot contain our power."

"Allow us to propose a different option," Vacellious said calmy, taking a careful step toward Tulsar. "Let us go, and we promise never to do it again."

"My counter-part, Vacellious speaks for us both. I, Zareeti, would never break a solemn oath to a Jedi... after all, you are so powerful it would be unwise to cross you." With a seemingly friendly gesture of his hand, Zareeti also took a step forward.

“There are just two problems with that…” Tulsar said to them as he held up his index and middle finger to emphasize it before lowering them with a ticking off of each point. “One: you said it yourself, the authorities can’t handle you. Two: you keep making the assumption that I’m a Jedi.”

At this he got a wide-eyed reaction from the one he was sure was the leader, Vacellious, before he regained his composure. “Don’t try and fool us, meat! We’ve dealt with your kind before. We know a Jedi when we see one!”

“Didn’t you hear? The Jedi are extinct. Our oh-so-benevolent emperor said so,” Tulsar replied sarcastically. “I’m just a simple man protecting my family. And while you’re quite right that I wouldn’t purposefully kill someone in cold blood, that credo doesn’t apply to monsters.” He leveled an accusing finger at the duo. “You’re not men. You’re Anzati, aren’t you?!”

“Impressive deduction,” Zareeti admitted. “How did you know?”

“I know my family history,” he answered them. “An ancestor of mine had a run-in with one of your kind who went by the name of Rethe Frettan. He tried to feed on her and he failed. Ever since that incident, the story has been passed down as a warning to future generations about what to look out for. You’ll never change your ways, you’ll just feed on someone else as soon as you feel it’s safe to do so.”

“Then why are you hesitating?” Vacellious asked him.

Tulsar reached inside his tunic and pulled out his lightsaber. “I’m not. I just had to be sure!”

With a sudden brilliant flash of blue, the weapon activated and Tulsar lunged forward with greater speed than a normal man should have possessed. The two tried to dodge out of the way, but only one was successful. Vacellious was cut in half by Tulsar’s precision attack. He spun to get Zareeti but froze in place as he saw a dozen CorSec officers suddenly round the corner and level their weapons at both of them.

The smug look from the surviving Anzati was followed by him raising his hands in surrender and moving towards the authorities. “Take me in, officers! I told you there were Jedi here!”

The head officer narrowed his eyes. “Take him into custody.” He then shifted his glance to Tulsar. “Jedi or not, that weapon you’re carrying is banned by Imperial law and it’s pretty clear you killed an unarmed man with it. You’re under arrest. Put it down and give yourself up or we call in the stormtroopers.”

Tulsar entertained notions of striking down Zareeti before CorSec got to him, but decided against it. The longer he stood where he was, the more likely it was that someone could identify him. He’d have to take care of the survivor later.

“Sorry, not happening,” Tulsar replied simply before turning and sending the blade through the lock of the blastdoor behind him. With a quick push of the Force he forced it open and darted through before the CorSec officers could fire more than a few shots off at him…

Falanis and the others arrived at the rundown hotel in which Faye and her grandfather were staying. For a moment Falanis stood outside staring, wondering if she had come to the right place. "This is it," Kalja cried excitedly, feeling a familiar presence. Together the family approached the door Master Lyn had given them only to find the door cracked part of the way open and the lights off. Cautiously, Falanis drew the door open and stepped inside, her eyes darting this way and that. She had nearly gotten to the center of the room before a shadow jumped out at her from behind. Reacting quickly Falanis grabbed the shadow and tossed it over her shoulder, smashing a table and shattering a lamp as her attacker fell to the floor.

"Just what is going on in here," Master Lyn said suddenly as he came into the room and flipped on a light.

Falanis looked at him in surprise then at the young girl lying on her back on the floor. "Ow," Faye muttered as she scooted herself backwards until her back rested on the couch. Clearly her ambush didn't work...

“Not bad,” Falanis said to Faye with a smile, “but you’ll have to do better than that to take me by surprise.” She then looked over at Lyn and bowed her head regretfully. “I’m so sorry about the intrusion, but we’ve run into a situation and I couldn’t think of anyone else to turn to.”

She then stepped aside as Sysen brought Danolie – still sleeping – inside. “There was a bit of a scene at the spaceport earlier today. Two men tried to kidnap this boy and I think they killed another one. Kalja sensed it somehow, which led to Tulsar and I intervening and saving him.”

She sighed. “Now we need to lay low for a bit until CorSec stops looking for us. Returning to our ship or our hotel room is too risky for the time being since that could lead people to identify us. If it’s too much trouble for us to stay here, just say so and we’ll go.”

Kalja, however, seemed oblivious to it all as she ran up to Faye. “Guess what, I found that boy who was looking at us last night! I named him Danolie because he heals really quick.” She reached over and grabbed Faye’s hand. “Come on, you have to meet him!”

Faye let herself be pulled to her feet and led over to where Sysen was carrying Danolie. She stared at him a moment then poked the boy with her finger. "He's sleeping," she said, turning her gaze to Kalja.

"Hmm, that is serious," Master Lyn replied as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Come, come. Come inside," he said, beckoning Sysen and Falanis over to a chair. "Let me get a blanket for the boy and you can tell me all that has happened."

It was a moment before Lyn returned, having gone into the other room to fetch a blanket. Sysen had laid Danolie down onto the couch and Lyn laid the blanket across him. Then he turned and settled himself into an unoccupied chair. "I know it is not customary for Palawans to help Jedi, even those who claim not to be Jedi, but there is no reason our prejudices should prevent us from helping those in need. You and your family are welcome here, it is the least I can do for the one who returned my granddaughter."